


love is just something lonely people do

by WitchyBee



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Fake Marriage, Getting Back Together, Loneliness, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Podfic Available, Post-Divorce, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-31 09:48:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20113132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WitchyBee/pseuds/WitchyBee
Summary: Elias and Peter, newly divorced, pretend they're still married during a Lukas family event. They might be a little too good at it.





	love is just something lonely people do

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the song Lonely People by Tiny Little Houses.

Elias pointedly ignores the cold fog seeping into his office even as it chills the core of him.

“If you’re here for business, make an appointment with Rosie,” he says without looking up from his scheduling. He doesn’t need to look to know Peter has dramatically cast off the fog like a cloak.

“And if it’s personal?”

Somewhere in the archive, Gerard Keay has just lit a cigarette despite repeated warnings about the two centuries worth of extremely flammable documents around him. That knowledge is starting to give Elias a headache, but right now he would much rather blame it on Peter Lukas.

“We don’t do personal anymore,” he says sharply. “We’ve been divorced for five months and, until now, you were content to spend much of that time away at sea.”

“Keeping an eye on me, eh?" Peter smiles like a shark. "How sweet. Did you miss me?”

And there it is.

“Quite the opposite, in fact. Hence the divorce. Why are you here?”

“To be honest, I’m surprised you don’t already know.”

“I prefer not to waste my Sight on such trivialities.”

“Of course. Well, my cousin Clarissa is getting married...”

That is interesting news. Elias actually sort of likes Clarissa; she’s one of the more tolerable Lukases. However, he had made the decision months ago not to care about anything Peter has to say, and he is not about to start now.

“Ah, there’s nothing like the first wedding. Do give her my regards. I’ll be sure to send a gift.”

“...And you’re invited.“ Peter reaches into the pocket of his coat and retrieves an invitation, presenting it to Elias. He thinks he can guess what Peter’s angle is here, and he has no intention of being anyone’s plus one to a Lonely wedding. But the invitation is quite clearly addressed to both of them, which can only mean one thing.

“Peter...” He meets those familiar pale blue eyes with his own piercing gaze just long enough to remind him whose place of power this is, that should he wish to Elias could unravel him with a few well chosen words. “Are the Lukases aware that we are no longer married?”

“A few of them, yes. But I know how much you value your privacy,” his infuriating ex-husband says. “Some of the sharper ones figured it out. You know how Nathaniel is. It’s not really them you need to worry about though.”

"Get to the point, Peter. I have work to do.”

“Several members of my family have, as you know, made very generous donations to your Institute. But if they were to find out that you are not...part of the family, they might be less inclined to continue that support, and I’m sure my contribution only covers a fraction of what it costs to run this place. Consider the wedding an opportunity to remind them what a worthy cause you’ve got here.”

Peter is right, and he knows it. Elias doesn’t need the budget spreadsheets in front of him to know how things stand. Ceaseless watching has never been particularly lucrative. Legitimate funding sources are not keen to support an organization dedicated to researching the supernatural, especially one that has, to mundane eyes, achieved very little in the past two hundred years. So he relies much more than he would like on other avatars, on old money and older, fragile alliances. Now, with his wayward Archivist criss-crossing the globe and claiming her expenses at every turn, he literally cannot afford to lose any of his benefactors.

If that means making an appearance at this wedding and pretending for one day that he and Peter are in love, or at the very least still married, then so be it.

He doesn’t ask what Peter will get out of this. The man has always preferred to avoid upsetting his family whenever possible.

Elias agrees, of course he does. He hopes he will not come to regret it.

* * *

He regrets it.

Peter’s hand has been resting on his thigh for the past thirty-seven minutes.

The rehearsal dinner is quiet, of course, despite the numerous guests in attendance, some of whom look very uncomfortable – the groom’s family, Elias assumes. The groom himself is trying very hard not to appear frightened by the impassive stares of his future in-laws. A victim then, perhaps, but a willing one. Part of him thinks he ought to warn the man that tying yourself to a Lukas really is forever, no matter what the divorce papers say.

During the meal, Peter tries valiantly to strike up conversation, regaling everyone with exaggerated tales of his seafaring, but there’s only so much one can do in a room full of people this empty. Still, even he must grudgingly admit that Peter is quite charming when he really puts in the effort. Elias plays the part he’s been assigned, too, and finds it distressingly easy to slip back into the role of Peter’s husband. He knows his lines by heart.

It’s just the wine, he tells himself, as he laces their fingers together beneath the table. Or maybe it’s muscle memory.

Eventually they retire to one of the manor’s many guest bedrooms. As much as Elias does not want to be here any longer than strictly necessary, it makes more sense to stay the night than returning to London at this hour. Besides, they have to maintain the facade of marital bliss, after all. Speaking of which...

“One bed,” Elias observes.

Peter grins. “Naturally. I would offer to sleep on the floor, but you never know who could be watching.”

“Only your patron and mine, I hope.”

“You did well tonight, by the way. If things had turned out differently, you would have made a fine servant of the Forsaken,” he remarks fondly.

“That’s absurd.” Elias sits down on the mattress and begins removing his tie and shoes.

“Well, you’re very adept at pretending not to hate me, is all. Had everyone fooled,” Peter continues, and Elias almost says something very stupid indeed which is: _I don’t hate you._

Instead he says, “I’ve had a lot of practice.” But the barbed words fall flat when the expression on Peter’s face shifts, the cheerful mask stripped away to reveal something unexpectedly weary and sad. It stirs an old emotion long buried in his chest that he would rather not put a name to. He never has hated Peter Lukas, not really, and he doesn’t think he ever will. He sighs. “Come to bed, Peter.”

Predictably, sharing a bed with a Lukas can be almost like sleeping alone. Tonight Peter gives him entirely too much space, lying still and silent until he’s hardly visible at all. Elias tries not to feel bereft. He knows it’s just the Lonely’s influence settled deep in the bones of this house. You cannot really miss someone who’s right beside you.

In need of a distraction, he attempts to check his phone, but the reception is always poor at Moorland House and the wifi even worse. Not that he necessarily wants to read Gertrude’s latest irritating email; it’s probably little more than another itinerary and whatever vague details of her plans she deigns to share with him.

“Something wrong?” Peter’s voice cuts through the oppressive silence.

“I can’t stand this place,” Elias mutters.

“That makes two of us. But there’s more, isn’t there?” He can feel Peter’s breath warm against his neck as he idly runs his fingers through Elias’ hair. He should pull away, but it’s...not exactly unpleasant. “I can tell you’re thinking about work. Trouble in the archives? Oh, don’t give me that look. Just an educated guess. You’re still very clever and mysterious.”

“My Archivist has been...uncooperative,” he confides.

“I told you that woman is dangerous.”

“Obviously. That’s her job. I am watching her closely.” Although not nearly as closely as he would like, if he’s honest. Gertrude is secretive and calculating (and yes, he is quite aware of the hypocrisy). So far, she has been more of an asset than a liability, but Elias knows she could become a threat to the Institute. She never has been as loyal to their patron as she should be. With the Beholding’s chance fast approaching, he cannot abide unnecessary risks for much longer.

“I bet I can take your mind off it. Close your eyes,” Peter murmurs.

“Going to disappear again, are you?”

“Not this time. Just close your eyes. All of them.”

Elias complies. Mostly. When they kiss, it feels as inevitable as the End.

* * *

“Marry me,” Peter whispers in his ear as Clarissa walks down the aisle.

“Not a chance,” Elias tells him. “Besides, we’re already married, remember?”

They both know he will ask again, weeks or months later, and at some point Elias will relent and say yes. It won’t last, of course, because they do not belong to themselves let alone one another, but even knowing that doesn’t stop the way they are drawn together like magnets. Some mistakes are worth making.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr @podcastenthusiast.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] love is just something lonely people do](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21960433) by [GoLBPodfics (GodOfLaundryBaskets)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GodOfLaundryBaskets/pseuds/GoLBPodfics)


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